Method system and device for packaging

ABSTRACT

A system, method, and device for packaging is disclosed. The system, method, and device includes at least a filler and a conveyor. The conveyor transports containers to a filler. The filler loads product into containers. In our novel system, the filler is driven separately from the conveyor such that, in the absence of containers, the filler stops turning.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present patent document claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of Provisional U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/693,145, filed Aug. 24, 2012, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Filling machines are used for packaging products such as food, beverage, detergents, pharmaceuticals, and an array of other products into product packaging or containers. Product packaging or containers may be a bottle, a pouch, a box, a jar or otherwise. Packaging products may protect the products from elemental damage, physical damage during shipping, and otherwise. Product packaging also provides a surface for product instructions, advertising, and warnings.

Product packaging may be automated for efficiency. Product packaging may involve delivering a packaging material (e.g., box, bag, pouch, jar, can, etc.) to a filling station. Product packaging may further involve delivering a filled packaging material to a package sealing area. Automated product packaging may increase the efficiency and accuracy of packaging products.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A system, method, and device for packaging is disclosed. The system, method, and device includes at least a filler and a conveyor. The conveyor transports containers to a filler. The filler loads product into containers. In our novel system, the filler is driven separately from the conveyor such that, in the absence of containers, the filler stops turning.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a packaging machine;

FIG. 2 is an elevation view of a packaging machine;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

We disclose a method, system, and device for packaging products. Our method, system, and device may, among other features, improve weight control and/or minimize product degradation.

There are many possible configurations for packaging machines. For illustrative purposes, and to aid in the disclosure of our novel method, system, and device, we provide an exemplary filling machine configuration incorporating novel aspects disclosed herein. FIG. 1 shows an exemplary packaging machine 100. The packaging machine 100 may include a conveyor 102 and a filler 104.

The conveyor 102 may deliver containers 106 to the filler 104. The filler 104 may introduce contents into the containers 106. Containers 106 are demonstrated in FIG. 1 as rectangular containers, however, container 106 may include, e.g., box, bag, pouch, jar, can, and other forms of packaging materials. The filler 104 may be, for example but not limited to, a volumetric filler, a weight based filler, or otherwise. FIG. 1 illustrates a filler 104 in the nature of a turret style filler, however, many other styles of fillers may be used with the same result.

The packaging machine 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 may include a conveyor 102, which in this example is a carousal conveyor. The conveyor 102 may include a receptacle 108 for removably engaging a container 106. The receptacle 108 may be a magazine, a pocket, a hook, or any other device adapted to receive or hold a container 106. While a rectangular container is shown, the container 106 may be of other shapes or materials. For example but not limited to, a bag, a can, a barrel, a jar, and otherwise.

In general operation, a container 106 may be engaged with a receptacle 108. In this exemplary variation, the container 106 may be loaded onto the conveyor 102, which may be a carousal conveyor. The container 106 may travel on the conveyor 102 through several stations, e.g., on the container's 106 path to the filler 104 and beyond the filler 104. The stations on the container's 106 path may include at least one of an assembly station (not shown), box loading station (not shown), a filling stations 120, and a top sealer not shown but indicated generally as top sealing station 130, among other stations.

DEFINITIONS

Definitions: unless stated to the contrary, for the purpose of the present disclosure the following terms shall have the following definitions:

A reference to “another variation” in describing an example does not imply that the referenced variation is mutually exclusive with another variation unless expressly specified.

The terms “a,” “an” and “the” mean “one or more,” unless expressly specified otherwise.

The phrase “at least one of” when modifying a plurality of things (such as an enumerate list of things) means any combination of one or more of those things, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The term “represent” and like terms are not exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise. For example, the term “represents” does not mean “represents only,” unless expressly specified. In other words, the phrase “the data represents X,” describes both “the data represents X” and “the data represents X and the data also represents something else.”

The term “based upon” or “based on” or other similar variants does not mean “based only on” and rather expresses “based at least on.”

The term “e.g.” and like terms means “for example, but not limited to” and thus does not limit the term or phrase it explains.

The term “determining” and grammatical variants thereof (e.g., determining whether a container is present) is used in a broad sense. The term “determining” encompasses a wide variety of actions and therefore “determining” can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, ascertaining, and the like. Also, “determining” can include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory) and the like. Determining may also include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing and etc.

The term “herein” means “in this patent application including anything which may be incorporated by reference,” unless otherwise specified.

We now provide one exemplary operation of a filler 104. The filler 104 includes at least one of a first tube 110, which may be a hopper into which product is loaded into the filler 104. The format of the first tube 110 and the manner in which product is loaded may vary depending on several factors including the nature of the product. The filler 104 may also include one or more fill cups 112. The fill cups 112 may be volumetric fill cups, weight based fill cups, or otherwise. The fill cups 112 may be mounted on a platform 114 which may be a rotating platform and which may positioned above the conveyor 102. The location of the platform 114 above the containers 106 carried by the conveyor 102, allows the platform 114 to position the fill cups 112 above the containers 106 for loading the containers 106 with product from the fill cups 112. The filler 104 station may also include a sweeper 116. The sweeper 116 may remove excess product from the top of the fill cups 112.

In operation, product may be loaded into the first tube 110. The product may flow from the first tube 110 directly into the fill cups 112 or onto the platform 114. The platform 114 may rotate to deliver empty fills cups 112 to the first tube 110 and remove loaded fill cups 112 from the first tube 110. The sweeper 116 may be positioned to sweep excess content from the fill cups 112 as the fill cups rotate away from the first tube 110.

The rotation of the filler 104 may be timed with the rotation of the conveyor 102 such that loaded fill cups 112 are positioned above the empty containers 106. During operation, the fill cups 112 may be positioned above the conveyer 102 and the containers 106 carried by the conveyor 102. The fill cups 112 may pick up an amount of product (as described above) and deliver the product through a fill chute 118 and into the underlying container 106. Loaded containers 106 may be carried via the conveyor 102 to a top sealing station 130.

A conventional filling machine By conventional filling machine, we are referring to the machines known in the art prior to this disclosure. The conventional system includes one motor. The one motor is turns a first shaft which may be a drive shaft. The rotation of the drive shaft is translated to a second shaft which may be a drive shaft. The second shaft is operatively associated with a differential. The differential operatively associates with a third shaft, e.g., a drive shaft. The third drive shaft drives the rotation of both the conveyor and the filler. The parallel arrangement of the filler above the conveyor driven by a shared drive shaft is widely adopted in the art of product filling lines. The shared drive shaft arrangements in the conventional arts permits synchronicity between the conveyor carrying the containers and the filler

Currently known packaging systems are driven by a series of chains, bands, or otherwise. Using one motor may insure synchronization of the conveyor and the filler by driving the conveyor and the filler at the same rate (e.g., the rate of the shared drive shaft). Under currently known systems driven by one motor, several events occur which may create waste and/or inefficiencies.

In one example, the conveyor may be depleted of containers. In this circumstance, conventional packaging machines have only a few options. In one exemplary option, some regions of the conveyor may be depleted of containers while other regions of the conveyor may contain loaded containers. For example, there may be a first region of the conveyor leaving the box loading region with receptacles empty of containers (e.g., due to depleted resources in the box loading region). Further along the conveyor, there may be a number of containers in the filling station being loaded by the filler. Alternatively or additionally, further along in the conveyor there may be loaded containers leaving the filling station heading toward the top sealing station. In conventional operation, the goal is to convey the loaded containers from the filling station to the top sealing station for sealing. Conveying the loaded containers to the top sealing station requires the shared drive shaft to continue rotating. Because the filler shares the shared drive shaft with the conveyor, the filler continues to turn synchronistically with the conveyor. As soon as the last loaded container leaves the filling station the filler is turning but has no containers to load.

The continued turning of the filler while the conveyor is empty of containers may have several results, depending on the product. First, the fill cups may be overpacked due to the increased time exposure to the first tube and to the action of the sweeper. For example, if the product is detergent or powered sugar or other particulates, as the filler continues to turn without releasing product, the product may continue to settle in the fill cups allowing more than a desired amount of product to be packed in to the fill cups. Second, where the product is a fragile product such as but not limited to cereal or pasta, the product may be broken, cracked, or otherwise degraded by, for example, being crushed into the fill cups and/or being subjected to numerous rounds through the sweeper, or otherwise. When new containers 106 are finally loaded onto the conveyor, they are more likely to be loaded with incorrect quantities and/or compromised product.

In a second exemplary option, the shared drive shaft may stop (e.g., stopping both the conveyor and the filler) until new containers are available for loading onto the conveyor. System stoppage result in time inefficiencies and lost product due to the possibility that loaded containers which have not made it to the top sealing station are never sealed. Rather, these loaded containers are typically sacrificed (e.g., due to possible degradation of product caused by prolonged exposure to environmental conditions) resulting in loss of product. The problems inherent in the conventional shared drive shaft system has numerous inefficiencies, results in product degradation, lost product costs, customer complaints and returns of comprised product (e.g., overloaded and unusable, broken, underloaded, lacking freshness, and otherwise)

We propose herein a method, system and device for packaging products that may increase the efficiency, consistency, and integrity of product packaging. The proposed system moves away from the shared drive shaft model and provides a system by which the filler and the conveyor are separately driven. In one example, this is accomplished by providing at least two drive motors to drive the filler separately from the conveyor.

Turning now to FIG. 2 a packaging system 100 may include a first motor 310 and a second motor 340. The first motor 310 may drive the conveyor assembly 318. The first motor 310 may be operatively assembled with a gear box 314, e.g., via a motor assembly 312. The gear box 314 may translate the rotation from the first motor 310 to the first drive shaft 316. The first drive shaft 316 may drive the conveyor system 102 via the conveyor drive assembly 318. The conveyor drive assembly includes at least a first pully 320 and a second pully 322. A belt 324, operatively assembled with the first pully 320 and the second pully 322 translates the rotation from the first drive shaft 316 to the conveyor drive 322. The rotation of the second pully 322 may drive the conveyor drive 328 via the second drive shaft 330, which may be the conveyor drive shaft. Alternatively or additionally, the conveyor drive 328 may otherwise receive the rotation from the first drive shaft 316. The conveyor drive 328 may be operatively connected to the conveyor system, e.g., as a sprocket wheel and chain, or other conformation. The conveyor drive assembly 318 may further include a tensioner 326.

The second motor 340, may drive the filler 104. The second motor 340, may be operatively connected to a filler drive shaft 342. The filler drive shaft 342 may pass through the conveyor drive assembly 318 to drive the filler 104. For example, the filler drive shaft 342 may pass through a central region of the pully 322 and the conveyor drive 328. The conveyor drive assembly 318 may operate independently of the filler drive shaft 342 and vice versa.

The first motor 310 may be adapted instead to drive the filler 104 and the second motor 340 may be adapted instead to drive the conveyor drive assembly 318. Also, the location of the first motor 310 and the second motor 340 may be swapped or otherwise located to maintain the function of separately driving the filler 104 and the conveyor 102.

The second motor 340, may be, e.g., associated with a servo drive. The second motor, 340, may monitor feedback signals from the packaging system 100 and may adjust the speed and rotation of the filler 104, e.g., adjusting the speed and rotation of the filler to correct for deviations from expected behavior in the system, leading to, among other things, less product dumping when there is no container 106 present and/or when a container 106 is misaligned.

In the novel system, method, and device, the filler 104, which may be a volumetric filler, may be driven separately from the rest of the packaging system 100, for example, the conveyor 102 and other elements of the packaging line.

A further novel and unique feature of the system, method, and device is the integration of a “no carton-no fill” feature. In one example, the packaging system 100 may include a conveyor 102, e.g., a carousal conveyor. It may include receptacles 108 adapted to receive or hold a container 106. A container 106 may be erected into a receptacle 108 as the receptacle 108 travels through the stations of the packaging system 100. The conveyor 104 may transport the container 106 to a station where the bottom of the container is closed and glued. The conveyor 104 may transport the container 106 to a second station, for example, a station that introduces peripheral items into the container 106. For example, in the case of pasta or rice products, sauce packets may be introduced. In the case of cereals, promotional items may be introduced. In the case of battery acids, toothpastes, cosmetics, or drugs, user manuals, warning book lets, or supplementary items may be introduced.

The conveyor 104 may then transport the container 106 to the filler 104. In our novel system, the filler 104 is driven by a separate drive motor 340. It is possible therefore, that the filler 104 may be adapted to operate only when a container 106 is present in the receptacle 108. Upon a condition in which a container 106 is sighted, the filler 104 is triggered to release product through the fill chute 118. Therefore in this unique system 100 the product is loaded only in the presence of a container 106.

In a further example, if one or more containers 106 are absent from the receptacles 108 on the conveyor 102, the filler 104 stops. E.g., upon a condition in which no container 106 is present, the absence of the container 106 sends a signal to switch off the second motor 340. The first motor 310 may continue to activate the conveyor system 102, e.g., in the case where loaded containers are headed toward the top sealer station 130.

Stopping the filler 104 when there are no containers 106 present in the filling station 120 may increase efficiency, consistency of product filling, and reduce breakage.

We use the example of a six-cup filler to illustrate the decreased breakage attribute of the disclosed system, method and device. (This is for exemplary purposes only, the filler may have more or fewer cups.) The act of introducing the product into the cups, filling the cups, and sweeping off the top of the cup may cause breakage. Under the conventional system, the filler 104 continues cycling even in the absence of containers 106 to load. Any product that is in the filler 104 may be damaged (e.g., breakage due to the turning, continued feeding into the first tube 110, and sweeping), the cups may be overpacked, or otherwise (discussed above).

The disclosed system, method, and device illustrated that stopping the filler 104 when the cartons ran out (e.g., while the conveyor continued to deliver loaded cartons 106 through the final stages, such as top sealing 130) resulted in decreased breakage and increased efficiency and weight/volume consistency among the final product containers.

In a further example, a filler 104 such as a volumetric filler may be used with granular products, e.g., free falling products. The novel system, method, and device may also resolve consistency and efficiency issues when working with such products. For example, under conventional systems, the filler 104 continues cycling even when there are no containers 106 available to fill. With granulars, if the filler 104 is cycling, the first tube 110 (e.g., hopper) continues dumping product, which may result in continually filling the fill cups 112. In the first pass, the fill cup 112 may have the density desired for packaging. However, after the first pass, if the filler 104 keeps running, the granular product may compact, e.g., due to loss of air in the fill cup 112 making room for additional product. The continued operation of the filler 104 coupled with the packing of product, providing room for more product, may results in a fill cup 112 that has an increased and perhaps undesireable density. In the example of detergents, modern detergents, which may be known as high density detergents, may be formulated such that they are on the verge of becoming a liquid. When the filler 104 continues running in the absence of containers 106 to fill, the contents of the fill cups 112 may become packed into a heavy mass resembling, e.g., a snow ball. This product, when packaged, may not be suitable for use. Therefore, when the carton flow restarts and the machine cycles, the containers 106 may have undesireable weight or volume, which may result in, among other things, a loss of income, a loss of materials, poor quality product, customer dissatisfaction, and loss of good will in the business.

By driving the filler 104 separate from the rest of the line, the result may be better weight/volume control. Also, on fragile products, product degradation may be minimized.

The disclosed system, method, and device may also increase the rate of production by about 10%, about 20%, or about 30% over conventional shared drive shaft systems. In the example of boxed pasta products, the fastest known conventional package filler can fill at 240 units per minute. It may also result in a reduction in lost cartons due to line stoppage and otherwise.

The claims that follow are to be construed to cover all equivalent structures which fall within the scope and spirit of the disclosure. 

1. A method for packaging a product into a container comprising: providing a conveyor for transporting the container; providing a filler for loading the product into the container; providing a first drive means for driving the conveyor; providing a second drive means for driving the filler; providing a sighting means for determining whether a container is present; whereby, if a container is not present, the second drive means stops the filler independent of the activity of the first drive means. 